Shutter



July 31, 1962 E. J. SHUSTROM SHUTTER Filed July 6. 1959 ATTORNEY allUnited States Patent 3,046,619 SHUTTER Elmer J. Shustrom, Coldwater,Mich., assignor to The Cadillac C0. Incorporated, Goldwater, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,230 3 Claims.(Cl. 20-62) The invention relates to air or gas flow control apparatusand specifically pertains to devices of the parallel shutter type suchas used with internal combustion engine radiators.

Shutters have long been used to control the flow of air or gases andhave found wide usage in the ventilation art. A common use of suchapparatus has been to control the quantity and direction of air flowingthrough the radiator of internal combustion engines and otherventilation devices on vehicles. In the past the shutter vanes have beensupported by pivot shafts rotatably supported in a suitable bearing andoften the bearing consists of no more than a hole formed in the shuttersupporting framework. Because of the highly corrosive conditions causedby rain, salt and road chemicals, conventional vehiclemounted shuttersusually corrode rapidly and because of the plurality of componentsinvolved and the infrequent seasonal operation thereof,'the vaneapparatus often becomes inoperative due to the formation of rust and thelike at the hinge or pivot of the vane. Although it, is sometimespossible to free corroded shutters with rust solvents and directmanipulation of the vane, the condition will become progressively worseand within a short period of time the shutters often become inoperativeagain.

To overcome the above disadvantages of conventional shutterconstruction, it is an object of the invention to provide a vane whichis not supported by a pivot and bearing and which is not susceptible tobecoming inoperative due to corrosion. To accomplish this objective theinvention employs a vane hinge or pivot constructed of a flexiblematerial which is relatively unaffected by water, salt and the like, yetprovides a strong and accurate means for supporting the vane.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vane construction ofextruded material which has a high resistance to bending and deflection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shutter vaneconstruction wherein sealing means may be readily assembled to theshutter and cooperation of the sealing means of the vane with theadjacent vane is positive and effective.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shutter vaneconstruction for use with a flexible hinge wherein the vane may behinged throughout its entire length.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shutter apparatus whichis dependable in operation and may be readily manufactured andassembled.

These and other objects of the invention arising from the details ofconstruction of an embodiment thereof will be apparent from adescription of the accompany drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three vane shutter apparatus in accordwith the invention wherein a portion of the lower vane is cut away toillustrate the hinge sup- P FIG. 2 is an elevational, sectional view ofthe vanes shown in the closed position as taken along the line IIII ofFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevational, sectional view of an enlarged detail of thevane construction taken along the line Ill-III of FIG. 1.

It will be appreciated that although the shutter construction of theinvention was primarily intended for use with vehicle radiator coolingand ventilation systems, the

3,046,619 Patented July 31, 1962 construction is not limited to suchapplication and may be used in most conventional shutter installations.

Referring to FIG. 1, the shutter structure may include a pair ofparallel spaced angle elements 10 which, in an installation, would beaffixed to the vehicle structure. The angle elements 10 may be cut andfor-med to provide a plurality of ears 12 which extend at right anglesfrom the inside legs of the elements 10. A plurality of extruded crossmembers 14 are interposed between elements 10 and are afiixed to theears 12 by bolts 16 extending through holes formed in the ears and crossmembers. The cross members 14 constitute the support elements for thevanes 18 and the members 14 extend at right angles to the elements '16and are spaced apart a distance proportionate to the width of the vanesas will be later apparent. It will be understood that the angle elements10' and cross members 14, as assembled, will define a rigid structurewhich may be readily aflixed to the vehicle or other primary structure.

The vanes 18 are preferably formed of extruded material such as aluminumwhich is resistant to corrosion and will maintain an attractiveappearance over long periods of time. The length of the vanes willdepend on the width the elements 10 are spaced apart, which distance isdetermined by the size of the opening to be shuttered. It is one of thefeatures of the construction of the invention that extremely long vanesmay be employed without appreciable sacrifice of strengthcharacteristics and that a minimum of supporting structure is requiredto mount long vanes for flutter-free operation.

The details of the vane construction are best illustrated in FIG. 3wherein the general arcuate configuration is readily apparent. The outersurface of the vane 18 is designated 20 and this surface is smooth anduninterrupted as is apparent from FIG. 1. The innersurface 22 is also ofan arcuate form, somewhat-similar to that of the outer surface 20-.However, formedprojections are provided on the inner surface tofacilitate the attachment of the hinge and sealing lip to the vane. Theinner surface 22 is formed with an approximately centrally locatedprojection 24 that extends the length of the vane and is parallelthereto. The projection 24 has a minimum thickness at 26 and an enlargedhead at 28, which' form half on an arcuate recess 30 between theprojection 24 and main body of the vane. The other half of the recess 30is defined by an arcuate depression 32 formed in the vane which alsoextends the length of the shutter. The recess 39 is thus of a generallycylindrical configuration and will receive the bulbous, cylindrical edge'34 of a the hinge. A projection 40, extending the length of the vane,is formed with a head 42 and defines a cylindrical recess 44 into whichthe cylindrical edge 46 of the lip 38 is received. After edge 46 isplaced within recess 44 bending of the projection 40 toward the outersurface 20' will securely grip the lip and a sealed connection betweenthe vane and lip is produced. It will be appreciated that theprojections 24 and '40 are illustrated in FIG. 3 in the V v A deformedpositions wherein the gripping of the hinge and and connects with thesealing lip as will be apparent in the description of FIG. 2.

The edge of the cross members 14, adjacent the vanes, is also formedwith means for grippin the hinge 36 and takes the form of a projection49 which defines a cylindrical recess 50 within the edge of the crossmember. The hinge 36 is provided with a second bulbous cylindrical edgeportion 52 which is received within recess 50 and deflection of theprojection 49 toward the cross member edge 54 will solidly connect thehinge to the cross member 14. It will be noted that the enlarged end ofthe projections 24 and 49 is formed as to provide contact over asubstantial portion of the hinge adjacent the cylindrical edges thereof.This construction prevents the projections from cutting or excessivelypinching the hinge in the flexing portion of the hinge.

It will be understood that the hinge 36 consists of an elongated pieceof flexible material such as neoprene, rubber, plastic, leather or thelike having substantially cylindrical edge portions which are gripped bythe vane and cross member structure. The hinge portion of reducedthickness between the edges 34 and 52 is highly flexible and it ispreferred that the hinge material be rela tively non-elastic whereby thevanes are supported for easy pivotal action yet will not shift anobjectionable degree with respect to the cross members. It will beunderstood that in the preferred embodiment the hinge 36 extends theentire length of the vanes. The degree of flexing of the hinge andrelation of the vane to the cross member when the vane is full open isshown by the dotted lines of FIG. 3.

The structure for operating the position of the vanes may be ofconventionalnature and consist of an arcuate activator arm 56 aflixed toeach vane 18 by rivets or other suitable means. The free ends of each ofthe arms 56 is pivotally affixed to a common connecting bar 58 by apivot pin and a control mechanism, not shown, adapted to axiallytranslate bar 58 will thus simultaneously pivot all of the vanes 18 inthe known manner. While the activator arms 56 are illustrated as aflixedadjacent the end of the vanes the arms 56 may be afiixed to the vanes atany axial position and in many cases would be centrally located betweenthe vane ends.

The relation of the vanes 18 in the closed position is shown in FIG. 2.The cross members 14 are spaced apart a distance related to the width ofthe vanes such that the vane edge 48 will engage the sealing lip 38 ofthe vane below. It will be noted that the lip 38 is formed to curveforwardly and engagement with the edge 48 is such as to slightly biasthe lip backward and a substantially air tight seal is produced. Sincethe metallic portions of the vanes do not engage each other, leakage dueto foreign matter getting between the shutters and prevent ing the vanesfrom completely closing is minimized.

From the above description it will be apparent that the inventiondescribed a shutter construction that will not be subject to seizing dueto corrosion and which is capable of achieving an accurate control ofthe air flow through the vanes. The arcuate shape of the vanes and theaxially extending projections 24, 40 and 48 provide thin wallconstruction of relatively high strength and resistance to bending andthe lengthwise support of the shutter by the flexible hinge givesadditional strength to the vane and minimizes flutter. It will be notedfrom FIG. 2 that the hinge 36 is flexed the greatest extent when theshutters are closed and the least extent when open. Due to the tendencyof the hinge to seek the unstressed condition the hinge functions as aspring to urge the vanes toward the open position and this featureprovides a safety function in the event of a failure of the shuttercontrol apparatus. Should a pivot pin or linkage become accidentallydisconnected the vane will automatically assume an open position andpossibly prevent overheating of the vehicle engine.

Modifications to the described embodiment may be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the inventionand it is intended that the invention be defined only by the scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:

1. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including anelongated vane supporting member, an elongated vane having a pair ofparallel longitudinal edges, a hinge of flexible material having a pairof longitudinally extending edges, one of said hinge edges being mountedon said member and the other hinge edge being aflixed to said vane at alocation substantially centrally located between and parallel to saidvane edges, said hinge being of a length substantially equal to thelength of said vane and continuously affixed throughout its length tosaid member and vane.

2. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including anelongated vane supporting member, a vane of thin material havingparallel longitudinal edges, 21 projection formed on said memberdefining an elongated support member recess, a projection formed on thevane the axial length thereof substantially centrally between andparallel to said vane longitudinal edges defining an elongated vanerecess, an elongated hinge of flexible material of a lengthsubstantially equal to that of the vane and having bulbous edge portionsand a flexing portion intermediate said edge portions, one of said edgeporttions being received and maintained within the support member recessand the other edge portion being received and maintained within the vanerecess whereby said vane is pivotally mounted throughout its length uponsaid support member.

3. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including anelongated vane supporting member, a recess defined in said memberextending the length thereof, an elongated vane having a pair ofparallel longitudinal edges, a recess defined in said vane substantiallyparallel to and centrally between said edges and extending the length ofsaid vane, an elongated hinge of flexible material having a pair oflongitudinal edges and of a length substantially equal to that of saidvane, one of said hinge edges being fixedly receoived throughout itslength within said supporting member recess and the other hinge edgefixedly received throughout its length within said vane recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,507,965 Eichner May 16, 1950 2,564,152 Bush Aug. 14, 1951 2,822,587Hallock Feb. 11, 1958 2,877,517 Graham Mar. 17, 1959 l v -"M

